Singapore Airlines Offers Families of Crash Fatalities $400,000 Each

Faced with the fact that its pilot was at least partly responsible for the jumbo jet crash last week that claimed 81 lives, Singapore Airlines announced Saturday that it will give each of the victims’ families $400,000.

The offer came on top of an immediate $25,000 payout the airline made to the families. In addition, the airline said it will bear all the medical expenses of those injured, who were initially offered $5,000 apiece.

All told, the company’s compensation package will exceed $35 million, but the cost of Tuesday’s fiery crash could be boosted significantly by lawsuits from survivors and relatives of the dead, as well as by damage to the airline’s reputation.

“This is a very sad situation, and the airline hopes to help families through this terrible period by offering compensation without delay,” the company said in a prepared statement.

The payout may do little, however, to assuage the anger of the victims’ families, many of whom have sharply criticized the airline’s handling of the accident and its steadfast refusal to take any blame until crash investigators revealed evidence Friday that the pilot, C. K. Foong, had tried to take off from the wrong runway.

The mistake resulted in the aircraft’s hurtling into concrete blocks and other objects on the runway, which was under repair, as the plane accelerated to more than 160 mph.

The impact caused the Boeing 747-400 to shear into three sections and burst into flames. Two dozen of the dead were Americans; the others were mostly Taiwanese and Singaporean.

On Saturday, some relatives braved gray skies to mourn their loved ones on the tarmac where they lost their lives. Some knelt in prayer, while others stood and looked wordlessly at the scorched parts of the plane in which their family members had hoped to travel to Los Angeles.

Also at the crash site Saturday were investigators who are now focusing their attention on how Foong, an experienced airman who had flown to Taipei 10 times previously, might have mixed up the runway he was supposed to use with the runway under construction. The two runways are parallel but differ in width and lighting.

“We’ve now got to start digging into the issue of why,” said chief investigator Kay Yong, whose team of experts is being aided by U.S. and Singaporean investigators.

Although the airline accepted “full responsibility” for the accident, it said it will conduct its own investigation, particularly to determine if conditions at the airport might have misled Foong.

Just as the airline initially insisted that its pilot held no blame, officials at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport are adamant that their operations conformed to accepted norms and had no part in the crash.

Speculation has spawned theories on everything from inadequate signage for the runways to improperly illuminated lights on the ground. In the latter case, Foong might have thought that the runway under repair--which was not sealed off at its entrance--was available for use.

Civil aviation officials have defended the airport’s practices, describing them as in line with international regulations.

Associated Press reported Saturday that Chang Yu-hern, director general of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, said Foong and his two first officers “must shoulder all responsibility.”

Officials have said that the runway under construction was not cordoned off because part of it was still being used as a taxiway. An official notice and preflight briefings have warned pilots that the runway is not to be used for takeoff.

Taiwanese authorities have ordered Foong, who is Malaysian, and his two colleagues to remain here for questioning.

Soong Kuo-yeh, a prosecutor in the district office responsible for the airport, said the investigation will determine whether any charges will be filed against the three pilots.